just into cnn, we have confirmed senator jim demint will step down as of december 31st. he's from south carolina. leading member of the tea party. he'll take over the head of the heritage foundation. cnn's dana bash live on capitol hill with more. why did senator demint decide to step down? >> we're trying to get more information from his aides. maybe find him in the hallways here. it's a bit of a surprise because demint has felt that he's been able to be effective here in congress because he has been kind of a conservative very willing to push his own leadership in ways that often times they don't want to be pushed with regard to deficit reduction, with regard to strict fiscal policy. that's by far his number one issue. i can tell you he's also really angered republican leaders over the past two election cycles by raising millions of dollars, a lot of money, for republican candidates who "establishment" thought were less able to win the general election. he is a purist. he's an anti-tax, anti-government purist. it does seem that he's kind of had it here. he wouldn't be